


Too Sweet To Share

by WinterAndLittleBrunettes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Commissioned fic, Confessions, Fluff, Laith, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Secret dating, a series of small stories that take place over the span of a few weeks, but everyone knows, but nobody shares that they know klance is dating, everyone learns that theyre dating, klance, only the teammate finding out and the corresponding klance scene happen at the same time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 03:16:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12147459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterAndLittleBrunettes/pseuds/WinterAndLittleBrunettes
Summary: Keith decides to take a leap and confess to Lance, and because the universe loves to throw curveballs Keith's way, Lance feels the same way. They decide to take things slow, and see what they mean to each other, before they bring the team up to speed.But that doesn't mean the team won't find out on their own, in their own time.





	Too Sweet To Share

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ForsakenAngel88](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForsakenAngel88/gifts).



> So!!! Since Susan read my fic [The Power of Faith](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11402112) and heard I was taking on writing commissions, she was sweet enough to [commission](http://winter-and-little-brunettes.tumblr.com/post/165319431609/buy-winter-and-little-brunettes-a-coffee) me!!
> 
> Honestly, I am so so _sooo_ sorry for the long wait, hon. I swear, I was planning to get this out to you sooner, but look, it's 2k longer than we planned!
> 
> Anyways, this fic does not take place over the span of a day. The Klance event does directly correlate with the team member finding out they're dating, but past that, none of these things happen very closely together. I think they manage to keep their relationship a secret for a while, with how close they've become as teammates in canon. So it wouldn't be a stretch.
> 
> Pfft enough from me. Enjoy this fluff!
> 
>  **Edit as of 8.31.18:** I was urged to finally write the Shiro scene that I'd abandoned at posting time, so it has now been added! Enjoy  <3

# Too Sweet To Share

 

 _[You](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=RaWFwmBv94k#Parallels%2F_My_Past_Year_\(Sleeping_At_Last\)) just have to knock… _ Keith thought to himself, as he hovered just outside of Lance’s bedroom door. _Go on, just do it, you coward!_

 

He raised his fist as if to knock, but paused again with his fist still raised. No, he shouldn’t do this to Lance… He probably doesn’t feel the same way, or at least not in the way that Keith wants him to, _needs him to_.

 

He wasn’t sure, exactly, when he started having feelings for Lance… There was no big ‘revelation’ like books and movies often talked about. Keith tended to notice it in the little things; the soft smiles Lance gave to others behind their backs when he was proud of them, the way his eyes shone when he talked about flying the Red Lion, how animatedly he described everything he talked about… He was just so honest and full of happiness that Keith wanted to constantly bask in the sunshine that was Lance, if he’d let him.

 

 _But first, to knock…_ He shut his eyes, and pulled his fist back to knock on the door.

 

Suddenly, the doors slid open, and Keith jumped back as if he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, clutching his raised fist back to his chest.

 

Lance stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, dressed in his usual clothes save his jacket. The long blue sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, showing off even more beautifully tan skin. “I could hear you thinking from in here, man.” Lance lightly jabbed. “C’mon in, you obviously have something you wanna say.” he said with a jerk of his head to the side, into his room. He stepped back inside without waiting to see if Keith would follow.

 

But of course Keith followed. He was a weak man; he’d do anything Lance asked of him.

 

Keith neary jumped when the doors clicked shut behind them. As soon as the doors shut, he was instantly hit with the realization that this was a terrible mistake; he was all alone in a small room, _Lance’s bedroom_ , with Lance. Although it wasn’t the first time this had happened, it certainly felt like it. He’d never been so nervous in his life before, why were his palms sweating? Could Lance tell? No, he probably can’t tell, the gloves cover up the sweaty palms… But--

 

“So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?” Lance asked, and turned to face Keith.

 

As soon as Lance turned to face him, Keith was rendered practically speechless. _Does Lance not know how_ **_beautiful_ ** _he is?_ How alluring his blue eyes look in any light, how warm and sunkissed his brown skin looks, how dashingly crooked his smirk? How caring and considerate he is, how courageous, and a good shot to top it off? How was this goofy, yet wonderful man still single?

 

Either way, Keith was happy that he was; it still gave _him_ a chance.

 

Lance was still staring at him, one thin eyebrow raised slightly. He opened his mouth to speak at the same time Keith did:

 

“You okay, buddy?”

 

“ _IreallylikeyouLance_.”

 

Keith bit at his lip as he watched Lance’s reaction; Lance leaned back slightly, mouth agape and blinked a few times. He appeared to be quite speechless, for once in his life.

 

 _Oh no no nononono…_ Keith thought frantically. _I knew it…_ He slouched down a bit, trying to make himself smaller. Perhaps if he slouched far enough, he’d become one with the floor and never have to relive this conversation again--

 

“Did you mean it?” Lance’s question pulled Keith from his frantic train of thought. Keith couldn’t bring himself to speak, so Lance asked again: “Did you mean what you said?”

 

“Did I mean-- _Of course I did!_ ” Keith exclaimed, and shifted sideways slightly, so he wouldn’t have to stare at Lance directly. He ran a shaky hand down his face, and just started filling the awkward silence: “Do you think I’d be this nervous about it if I didn’t mean it? Why would-- Why wouldn’t I? I wouldn’t put myself through the _embarrassment_ of confessing my crush to the cutest boy in space if I didn’t mean it. But damnit, I don’t want to ruin our relationship! We’re just starting to get along better and I enjoy spending time with you and, I dunno, I just want _more_ , you know? And look, I get it, I don’t blame you for not liking me back. I’m too hot-headed, I always run into dangerous situations before thinking things through, and I always need **you** to stop me and pull me back before things get--” he paused when he felt arms encircle his waist. “Lance? Wh-what?”

 

“I didn’t realize you were a rambler.” Lance whispered, and pulled Keith more firmly into his arms. “I thought **I** was the one who talked too much.”

 

“I wouldn’t say that,” Keith said slowly, and cautiously lifted his hands to rest them on Lance’s chest. “I always liked listening to _you_ talk.”

 

The smile that graced Lance’s lips was practically blinding, but Keith didn’t have any time to think before those lips were meeting his own.

 

He blindly pressed into it, relishing in the feeling of Lance’s firm lips on his own. It wasn’t anything special for a first kiss, just a simple press of lips, but Keith still pressed up onto his tiptoes when Lance tried to back away.

 

Lance chuckled softly at Keith’s eagerness, but didn’t try to pull further away any further. Their foreheads were still touching, but Keith still wanted more, why did Lance _stop_?

 

“I thought it was just me,” Lance whispered incredulously. He brought a hand up from Keith’s waist to let his thumb skim over Keith’s cheekbone. “How was I supposed to know that the most beautiful alien liked this goofy boy back?”

 

“You know I’m not _all_ alien, right?” Keith asked with a slight smirk, and shrugged lightly. “I’m still just, me.” He tilted his head up to rub his nose against Lance’s, relishing in the little amount of space between them.

 

Lance licked his lips, and Keith’s gaze was instantly drawn down to that wonderful tongue of his. “Well,” Lance said with a slight smirk, “maybe I like that side of you.”

 

As Lance tried to close the distance between them again, Keith couldn’t help but giggle at Lance’s admission. “What, the _wild_ side?”

 

Lance could only groan and shake his head at Keith laughing at his own terrible joke.

 

When Keith could finally calm his giggles, and look back up at Lance again, he was surprised to see Lance smiling fondly down at him. “What?” he questioned softly.

 

“You’re just so cute, you know that?” Lance replied just as quietly, and shook his head. “You’re too sweet to share; you make me want to keep you all to myself.”

 

“All to yourself, huh?” Keith huffed, and pouted slightly. He let his hands inch up Lance’s chest to wrap around his neck, and murmured “What if I want to flaunt you off to the whole galaxy?”

 

Lance bit at his bottom lip, smiling. “As much as I love the idea of that, maybe we should keep this a secret for a while, ya know? I wanna spend time with _just_ you, without the rest of the team breathing down our necks.” He let his thumb trace idly over Keith’s hip. “I just, I dunno, it’s not that I want to hide you away, I swear. I just want us to take it slow, y’know? Figure out what we mean to each other before we bring the team in on this.”

 

“That…” Keith paused, before nodding, “is quite reasonable. I agree, we should take it slow and see where this takes us before we label anything. Fair?”

 

Lance smiled and nodded. “Fair.” Suddenly, his smile turned into a devious smirk; “Seal the deal with a kiss?”

 

“Gladly.”

 

* * *

 

“Coran?” Allura called, not looking up from her holographic screens on the bridge, “How goes checking up on all of the Castle of Lion’s systems?”

 

“Well, Princess!” he replied without turning to face her. “All of our systems are online and fully recharged.”

 

Allura nodded, and tapped a few areas on her screens, pulling up information on the system they were temporarily residing in. “Perfect. We’re ready for any attacks that Lotor might be planning, then.”

 

“Actually, Princess, I was thinking… Maybe we should talk to Pidge and Hunk about bettering our particle barrier? Lotor’s ship made from the comet’s ore was able to cut right through it, and we need to be able to combat that in future battles.” he said thoughtfully, and turned to face Allura, twisting the end of his moustache between his fingertips.

 

Allura hummed thoughtfully, then nodded. “That’s a great idea. I’ll see where they are so we can hail them.” She tapped on the screen a few quick times to bring up the Castle’s security feeds and scritched Chulatt’s head with her free hand.

 

She didn’t immediately see Pidge’s wild brown hair, or Hunk’s orange headband on any of the feeds, so she went looking through each feed individually to see if one of them was in an odd corner or something.

 

She found Shiro first, emerging from his room in big roomy pants and a loose tank top, looking freshly sleep rumpled. _Good_ , she thought, _he deserves to get some sleep._ With a soft smile, she kept flipping through feeds.

 

She found Keith next, smiling softly at something just off camera. Seeing his smile made Allura pause; she couldn’t remember the last time that she’d seen Keith smile, let alone looking as _lovestruck_ as he did. He had his hand outstretched back towards whoever he was waiting for. Her finger hovered over the screen, waiting to see who or what Keith was smiling at.

 

It took a moment, but _Lance_ suddenly entered the feed, reaching for Keith’s extended hand and lacing their fingers together. _That’s new_ , Allura thought, but kept on watching them silently on the feed.

 

They were walking down the hall leading towards the Paladin’s sleeping quarters hand in hand, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Allura’s head was practically spinning; was their ‘rivalry’ all an act?

 

“Coran? Can you come here for a moment?” she called slowly, cautiously.

 

“What’s the matter?” he asked seriously, and made haste to her side. Once there, his mouth dropped open. “Ah… I see.” he murmured with a soft smile. “Well, it’s not unexpected of these two Paladins, but it seems unlike them to keep something from us.”

 

“Indeed…” she agreed, and pursed her lips, lost in thought. Lance and Keith disappeared from the feed as they stepped into one of the bedrooms together, still hand in hand. She glanced to the mouse sitting on her shoulder, and raised an eyebrow.

 

“Now now, Princess, you can’t rely on the mice to spy for you all the time.” Coran scolded, and gently picked up Chulatt from her shoulder. Cradling her in his palm, he continued, “They’ll tell us when they’re ready. We don’t know all the details of their new relationship, Allura. They may not even fully know themselves yet.”

 

* * *

 

As soon as Lance and Keith entered Lance’s bedroom, Lance made a beeline for the bathroom to start on his facial routine. Just because Keith was spending the night in his room tonight, _just to sleep_ , didn’t mean that he was about to abandon routine in the face of love.

 

Even if he _would_ destroy the entire galaxy for the boy waiting for him in the other room.

 

He took his time scrubbing the day away from his face with a gentle cleanser he got from Allura, and then applying the lavender scented moisturizer. He brushed his teeth with routine slowness, making sure every nook and cranny got the same treatment as the rest of his mouth. He topped it off with a somewhat peachy scented mouthwash, even though the taste _still_ felt off to him. Whatever, if it did the job, he wouldn’t complain.

 

Keith was already curled up in Lance’s bed when he turned away from the mirror and looked back into his bedroom. He was curled up on his side, facing the wall and away from Lance, but Lance didn’t mind. This way, he could look at Keith unabashedly.

 

His long black hair, usually tied up in a ponytail as of late, spilt wildly over Lance’s pale blue pillow sham. Lance did always like Keith’s hair, no matter how much he used to tease the older Paladin for it. It looked like it was the perfect length for Lance to run his fingers through, and he was certainly going to test that theory shortly. Keith was still wearing his black t-shirt, although it looked like he’d stripped down to his underwear. At least he didn’t wear boots and jeans to bed, otherwise Lance would have to kick him out.

 

He quietly padded back into the bedroom, kicking his shoes as he went. He swiftly stripped down to just his boxers before making his way to the side of the bed.

 

Keith rolled over as soon as Lance stopped beside the mattress, and smiled up at him. “Hey, what took you so long?” he accused lightly.

 

“Some of us like to do more than brush our teeth and pull off our pants, y’know.” he replied with a smirk, and pushed the covers back to crawl in beside Keith.

 

Keith immediately latched himself up against Lance’s side, even going as far to wrap a leg around Lance’s hip. He tucked his head under Lance’s chin, and wiggled about until he was comfortable.

 

Lance could barely contain his coos at how cute Keith was, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Laying there, with Keith in his arms, Lance could only wonder how he’d managed to fall asleep without him for so long. He was almost positive that now, he’d never want to sleep alone.

 

The backs of Keith’s knuckles gently running down the line of Lance’s jaw made him jump slightly, but he didn’t pull away from the sudden caress. Wandering fingers smoothed over Lance’s chin, up over the chapped shape of his lips, all the way up to his pointed nose. They even brushed over his forehead, and into the short strands of brunette hair.

 

“Enjoying yourself?” Lance whispered, but stayed perfectly still otherwise.

 

“Yes,” Keith answered simply, and let his fingers trace back down to Lance’s lips. “I’m trying to decide which part of your face I like the most.” He was quiet for a moment, simply letting his fingertips roam absently over Lance’s top lip, before continuing; “I love the colour of your eyes; I’ve considered cerulean blue to be my favourite colour as of late. But I also love how soft your face is, it’s obvious you pride yourself on your skincare routine. Your nose, your jawline, your cheekbones, your forehead, they’re all a part of you and I adore every inch of you, but… What do I call my favourite?”

 

Lance could only lay there, completely speechless at Keith’s admission. He’d never realized that Keith was a simple romantic at heart. Did Keith have any idea what his words were doing to Lance’s heart? “Well,” Lance said finally, and licked over his suddenly dry lips, “when you figure it out, let me know.”

 

* * *

 

It was late when Hunk decided to get a head start on making breakfast. The Castle of Lions wasn’t really on any time schedule, as they were in space, but Allura had set up a ship-wide clock shortly after they arrived so they could keep some semblance of time. That clock showed 3:57am when he hopped out of bed, but what was time, really?

 

So when Hunk neared the kitchen, he was shocked to see the lights on. Who else could be up at this supposedly late hour?

 

He tiptoed along the wall to the open doors, and peeked around as inconspicuously as he could in his still-sleepy state.

 

He was shocked to find Lance and Keith in there, working around each other in perfect harmony in the kitchen to make… _Something,_  Hunk couldn’t tell what from the doorway. Keith was madly stirring something with a whisk-like object in a bowl, while Lance offered him various ingredients, putting them in when told or placing them aside on the counter when they were denied. Lance was clothed in only pajama pants and his slippers, while Keith was barefoot in his normal black t-shirt and loose boxers that looked suspiciously like Lance’s.

 

Hunk retreated back behind the cover of the wall between them to think. What were they doing up so late, together, making something in the kitchen by themselves? Why was Keith wearing a pair of Lance’s boxers? And why did Lance not look the least bit upset that Keith was keeping him up from his sanctioned eight hours of sleep?

 

_What was going on here?_

 

He peeked around the corner again to Lance casually slipping an arm around Keith’s waist as Keith continued furiously mixing whatever concoction was in the bowl. Hunk blinked owlishly, and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms until he saw a weird kaleidoscope of stars and other shapes behind his eyelids. When he opened his eyes again, Lance was _still_ pressed lazily up against Keith like it was something common.

 

... ** _Was_ ** _it something common?_

 

Hunk was very aware of how much of a crush Lance had on Keith when they were in flight school. Lance talked about Keith all the time, about how much he hated him and hated how Keith could just get high scores so naturally, but… Hunk knew about the looks Lance gave to Keith’s back when he thought nobody was looking. Hunk knew Lance like he knew his own hand.

 

But the question was, when did Keith start liking Lance back?

 

Hunk was just about to turn away, leave them to their own devices and try to go get some more sleep and put this memory aside as some sort of weird dream, when Lance hooked his chin over Keith’s shoulder. _That’s usually something only couples do,_ Hunk thought. But just as soon as Lance settled in his new position, Keith broke his concentration on mixing to turn his head and press a kiss to Lance’s cheek.

 

Hunk jumped back behind the cover of the wall again. _Oh, that’s_ **_definitely_ ** _something only couples do._

 

* * *

 

Keith was _supposed_ to just be asking for curiosity’s sake. Lance’s favourite colour? Red. His favourite type of pet? Dog. His preferred season? Summer. His favourite cake? White cake with **buttercream icing**.

 

So what does Keith decide to do at 3:30 in the morning, when they have to be up and train in a few short hours? Try to make Lance’s favourite cake, of course.

 

He didn’t drag Lance down to the kitchen, exactly, but when he’d tried jumping up and over Lance to get out of bed, somehow his foot got caught and sent them both tumbling to the ground. With Lance mildly complaining about how the guy he likes only ever hurts him, Keith’s pout deepened all the way to the kitchen where he started gathering any ingredients he could think of that could potentially make cake.

 

Or, well, the alien equivalent of the ingredients, anyways.

 

Keith considered himself a lot of things; hot-headed, stubborn, quick on his feet, sometimes too quick to judge… But most of all, he considered himself determined.

 

And the way Lance’s eyes went distant as he talked about his last experience with a white cake and buttercream icing, Keith knew right then and there that he had to try, even if he was far from any sort of cook or cake-maker, he would damn well succeed.

 

“You know, just because I said I missed the taste of my mom’s buttercream icing, it didn’t mean you had to haul ass outta bed to try making some for me at…” Lance paused and glanced around for the clock, “3:35am. You _do_ realize that that is the time, right?”

 

Keith could only hum in response, and wave the spatula-like thing in his hand vaguely. He had to focus… Ingredients for an Earth cake usually consisted of flour, milk, an egg, some… Vanilla? Christ, what did Keith get himself into, he was so over his head here.

 

“Sugar!” Keith exclaimed suddenly, and dropped the spatula on the counter. He rushed over to the other side of the kitchen, where he recalled Hunk saying he ground up some sort of root that was similar to Earth’s sugar.

 

“Keith, honey, why don’t we just go to bed… You can try this again in the morning, if you still really want to. But,” Lance broke off to cover a yawn with the back of his hand, “we should really go back to bed.”

 

“No, Lance, I can’t just leave this. None of us have tried making a cake, but it doesn’t mean I can’t be the first…” he mumbled out hesitantly, and pulled the container up to his chest. “I can do this.” Keith said determinedly, and turned to take the container to the centre island.

 

Lance sighed, but shook his head in defeat. “Alright, if you’re so convinced we’re gonna do this now, let’s do this. What do you need me to do?”

 

“What do we need for cake batter?”

 

With a groan, and eventually a dry chuckle at the situation he was somehow roped into, Lance set out to grab all the materials he could remember of his mom’s recipe to let Keith approve or deny them.

 

It ended up being a pretty good system; Keith stuck to mixing everything up by hand in the big mixing bowl he found under the cabinet in the far corner, while Lance poured everything in as quietly instructed.

 

Keith wasn’t sure how much time passed when Lance looped an arm around his waist. And still not when Lance hooked his chin over Keith’s shoulder and leaned heavily against his back.

 

Keith paused his mixing to press a quick kiss to Lance’s cheek with a soft smile. He was surprised that Lance was giving up beauty rest to keep him company, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

 

And when they pulled a very flat cake-like thing out of the oven at nearly 6am? Keith can’t say that he regretted making it… The soft look on Lance’s face was reward enough.

 

* * *

 

It was getting late on the castle-ship, if the dimming lights were anything to go by, but Pidge couldn’t’ve been more awake. She just had an awesome idea about the Castle’s defenses, and needed to find Coran and Hunk, like, _an hour ago_.

 

But she couldn’t find them in any of their usual spots. Hunk couldn’t be found in the kitchen, his room, or on the bridge. Coran wasn’t on the bridge, either, and honestly, Pidge had no idea where else to look for him. He didn’t seem to have spots he visited more frequently than others… He was just, _there_ when she needed him.

 

So why couldn’t Coran use his honing-uncle-senses to sense that she needed him?!

 

With a huff, she turned away from the bridge. Allura still hadn’t shown her how to view the Castle’s security cameras, so she couldn’t narrow down either of their locations that way… Which meant she had to search for them, old school.

 

She turned left off of the bridge, and started down the long hallway to _god-knows-where_. She hoped to find them sooner rather than later.

 

All of the small workshops that she and Hunk often frequented were empty, much to her dismay, so she carried on down the hallway to where it split off to the observation decks.

 

All of the doors were firmly shut, and there was no light emanating beneath any of them, which meant that nobody was down this hallway. Just as she turned to head back towards where she came from, she heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

 

She quickly turned back, and treaded lightly down the hall to figure out where the sound came from. All the lights were off on the observation decks, which meant--

 

Someone, or some people, were watching the stars as they passed by, and didn’t need the lights on.

 

Pidge edged up to a door, stuck an ear to it and waited for some sort of movement, either voices or rustling or even footsteps, to echo from the inside to figure out which room was occupied. There wasn’t any movement in the first three rooms she checked, but as she was checking the fourth room, she heard more laughter from a room further down the hall.

 

As quickly as she could manage quietly, she made her way to the door at the end of the hallway, which housed the largest observation deck on the floor. She pressed her hand to the pad beside the door, and peered inside as the doors slowly opened.

 

There were blankets _everywhere_ , covering almost the entire floor, and what wasn’t covered by blankets was covered by pillows. She was pretty sure she saw her own blanket amongst the pile, but was more shocked to see _who_ was occupying the room.

 

Lance and Keith were huddled on a blanket together in the middle of the room. Keith was sitting upright with his legs crossed, with his back mostly towards the doorway, and Lance’s head was cradled in his lap. Keith was running his fingers soothingly through Lance’s hair, while his free hand was occupied by being twined with Lance’s.

 

Pidge backed out of the doorway, and let the doors click shut in front of her. It didn’t look like the boys had heard her accidental intrusion on their _date_ , but she couldn’t even pretend she was that surprised. The boys had always bickered and such, but the subtext and pining between them were sometimes even too much for her to handle. If anything, she figured that they’d get together sooner rather than later.

 

She just didn’t expect _them_ to come to the same conclusion.

 

Pidge spun on her heel and turned back the way she came, not really paying attention to where she was going. She couldn’t help but wonder, how long have the two of them been hiding their new relationship?

 

She was trying to pinpoint the exact time they might have gotten together when she bumped into something softly solid. She jerked back, and glanced up to see what she’d hit.

 

It wasn’t a what, it was a _who_. Shiro stood just before her, looking down at her with a bemused smile on his face as he rubbed the spot on his chest that her forehead presumably hit. “Hey there, Pidge. Guess you didn’t see me.”

 

“No, sorry Shiro…” she murmured, and adjusted her glasses so they properly sat upon her nose again. “Was lost in my head, I guess.”

 

Shiro nodded understandingly. “Have you seen Keith? I couldn’t find him on the training deck, and that’s usually where he is this time of night.”

 

She chuckled nervously, and pointed back towards the observation decks. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t want to interrupt his _date_ with **Lance** right now.”

 

His jaw dropped open in shock briefly, before he schooled his features back to a neutral expression with a slight cough. “L-Lance? Like, our current Red Paladin, _Lance?_ ”

 

With a chuckle, Pidge stepped around him and waved back at him over her shoulder. “I’d leave them be, Shiro! Don’t torture Lance too much yet, okay?”

 

* * *

 

[“Lance,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq9saQM225Q) Keith groaned, and swatted at Lance’s wrists. “Why can’t you just show me where we’re going?”

 

“Because, then it would ruin the surprise.” Lance murmured, and tightened his grip over Keith’s eyes. “Don’t want to ruin the surprise now, do we?”

 

Keith could only huff in response. “I couldn’t even get comfy first?”

 

“Nope!” In truth, Lance had kept Keith out of his room so he wouldn’t see what was _missing_. He wanted to keep Keith in the dark, literally and figuratively, until he brought Keith down to the observation deck.

 

He’d been trying to figure out what to do for Keith ever since he wrecked their sleep schedule to bake a squished, but somehow perfect white cake with some oddly purple buttercream icing at 6am. He honestly never thought that Keith would accomplish it, but… Somehow he did, and now he wanted to do something amazing for Keith, too.

 

It’d taken a lot of thought to plan the perfect space date, since many of the things Lance tried to think of, he couldn’t do without asking the others for help... Space fancy dinner date? No, he’d need Allura or Coran’s help to find a good place, and help to get Keith there unknowingly. Movie date? He’d need Pidge’s help to find some movies, and her help to whip up a projector to watch them on. Giving a gift? He’d need Shiro’s help to see what Keith likes outside of knives and swords, or Hunk’s help to try to bake something. He didn’t want to ask for their help to impress Keith… He wanted to do it on his own.

 

He’d come across an idea when strolling through the castle late last night, fighting off insomnia by watching the stars as they flew by on his favourite observation deck. He’d had been going down to the same observation deck since shortly after moving into the Castle of Lions however long ago, just to sit and watch the unknown stars roll past. He’d been sitting in the middle of the room, crossed legged on the floor, staring out blankly into space when he’d come to the idea; Keith _loved_ space just as much as he did. It was probably why he wanted to become a pilot in the first place, why they both found themselves in a comfortable ease in the midst of fighting a galactic war; they were surrounded by the stars, similar to the ones that drew them up into space in the first place.

 

He was practically bouncing off the walls the whole next day, waiting for the perfect opportunity to prepare his foolproof perfect date. He waited until Keith went to do his usual evening routine drills on the training deck to raid their rooms of any and all blankets and pillows to lay down on the floor in the observation deck. He even raided their teammates’ rooms for extra blankets so Keith could be as comfortable as possible on the hard floor. He’d fiddled with the arrangement of comfy things for as long as he could, before ‘accidentally’ running into Keith and steering him down to the set-up. The nerves had been eating him up every step they took down to the observation deck, but, it was no or never.

 

Now, standing outside of the observation deck with his hands over Keith’s eyes, he could only hope that he liked it.

 

He reached up with his foot to tap the scanner on the side to open the door, balancing precariously on one foot and using Keith’s back as a support. As soon as the doors were open wide enough, he urged Keith gently through, stopping just before Keith’s socked feet touched the edge of the blankets.

 

As soon as the doors shut behind them, Lance lifted his hands from Keith’s eyes.

 

Keith’s eyes slowly blinked open, and he gasped softly at the sight before them.

 

The floor, nearly wall to wall, was covered in blankets of varying colours and even more mismatched pillows. As the Castle slowly flew through space, a kaleidoscope of colours filtered through the large window at the other end of the room, illuminating the dark space. Keith’s breath caught in his throat as he took it all in, everything Lance had done for them, for _him_.

 

“L-Lance,” Keith stuttered out. “What is this?”

 

“Well, I thought we could watch the stars roll by,” Lance replied hesitantly, and leaned to the side to try to read Keith’s face. “...Do you like it?”

 

Keith whipped around so fast that his hair nearly came out of it’s messy ponytail. “ _Like_ _it?_ Lance, I **love** it.” he said incredulously, and swiftly wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck.

 

Lance instantly leaned into the embrace, and wrapped his own arms around Keith’s waist. It was rare that Keith initiated contact like this, and Lance would selfishly take every bit of Keith’s love. He buried his nose into the shoulder of Keith’s shirt, grounding himself with his scent.

 

Keith usually smelled like whatever weird strawberry-like shampoo they had on the castle, and of leather and sweat. It was surely an odd combination, but it just _worked_ for Keith, and Lance couldn’t get enough of it. Even with Keith freshly off the training deck, Lance would still cuddle up to him at any given moment, as long as he was sure his face wouldn’t break out due to the sweat.

 

“What’s this for?” Keith asked suddenly, and reached a soothing hand up into the shorter hair on the back of Lance’s head.

 

Lance merely shrugged his shoulders slightly, remaining quiet. How could he tell Keith that he wanted to thank him for being here with him, being _with_ him? For sacrificing his own sleep to make the boy he liked a cake at 4am? For being the best damn thing that had ever happened to him? It just wasn’t something Lance felt like he could put into words.

 

Instead, he pulled out of the embrace, and reached for one of Keith’s hands, twining their fingers together. He pulled the two of them onto the blankets, towards the centre, and plopped down, pulling Keith down with him, their hands still combined.

 

Keith fell ungracefully on top of Lance, his stray elbow accidentally striking Lance’s stomach. Lance jerked up, his forehead nearly colliding with Keith’s, wheezing slightly, while Keith barked out a startled laugh at Lance’s reaction.

 

“Shit, s-sorry, I wasn’t expecting--”

 

“It’s fine,” Lance interrupted gruffly, and waved Keith off with warm cheeks. “That was on me.”

 

“So…” Keith said awkwardly, and adjusted himself until he was sitting cross-legged beside Lance, a knee touching Lance’s side. He hadn’t tried to untwine their fingers. “Space is… Beautiful…”

 

“Wow, Keith, so poetic.” Lance chuckled, and nestled himself further into the blankets around them.

 

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, simply taking in the sight before them. Space was black, like it always was, but they were flying past some sort of nebula, completely enshrouded in vibrant colours and tiny, bring stars. The lilacs and yellows from the space nebula cast the inside of the observation deck in beautiful shades of violet and orange, but not overwhelmingly so. Lance let his thumb brush over the back of Keith’s hand slowly, just relishing in the fact that Keith was here, _with_ him. He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of it.

 

Keith chewed at his lip for a moment before asking, “What did you really do this for, Lance?”

 

Lance let the air blow out past his lips slowly, contemplating the correct answer. He thought it was too early to say that he did it to thank Keith, to even impress him… But he couldn’t keep him in the dark forever. “Well,” he began, and closed his eyes. “My siblings and I always used to do this on clear summer nights. We’d gather all the pillows and blankets and even mum’s fancy decorative pillows and throw them all out on the porch to lay out there and count the stars. I was the youngest of my siblings, so they’d always tell me stories that they made up when they were younger about the stars. My favourite was my sister Maia’s story of the Big Dipper, and how it was a really big and important person’s spoon before they passed away. The spoon felt so cherished from it’s lifetime with that person that it decided to follow them up to the stars, rather than be potentially misused by anyone else on Earth.” he chuckled fondly at the memory, and shook his head. “I never heard the creation story behind that star’s story, but there were plenty of other weird ones. And when my nieces and nephews came along, I’d do the same thing with them before I went off to flight school, and eventually the Garrison.

 

“But I can definitely say that my love of the stars came from my siblings,” Lance murmured, and opened his eyes again to stare up at the ceiling. “Maia gave me a book about all the important stars one year for Christmas, and ever since, I’ve always wanted to go to each and every star in that book. I think that was the year I decided I wanted to be a pilot…”

 

When Lance finally tore his gaze from the ceiling to look over at Keith, he was surprised to see Keith staring straight back at him with an unreadable expression. “What?” Lance questioned, and sat up slightly.

 

“Just… I had no idea that’s why you wanted to become a pilot.” Keith said slowly, and ducked his head. His bangs sat in front of his eyes, so Lance couldn’t see his face clearly anymore. “I used to think we couldn’t be more different, but… We’re actually a lot more similar than I gave us credit for.”

 

“How so, samurai? Why’d you wanna come up here?” Lance shifted until he had his head laying in Keith’s lap, their hands still twined.

 

Keith’s free hand instantly reached out to run his fingers through Lance’s hair, and he nodded. “I almost always saw the stars at night, and because they were always so far out of reach, I guess I wanted to visit them. So that sort of became my life goal, to reach the stars. But there was always an obstacle in front of me; getting into flight school, getting into the Garrison, trying to find a new way to the stars without the Garrison… It’s always been a dream of mine to come up here and experience them first hand, not have them handed down to us in some book.” Keith glanced up suddenly, and met Lance’s gaze again. “Actually experience them, y’know?”

 

“Actually experience them…” Lance said slowly, thoughtfully. With a soft smile, he reached up and brushed Keith’s bangs aside. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”

 

The bright flush across Keith’s cheeks that his motion caused was more than worth it in Lance’s books. With his free hand, he sat up into a sitting position and shifted until his knee was pressed against Keith’s thigh.

 

“But seriously, thank you for this, Lance.” Keith whispered, and leaned forwards to press into Lance’s space. He was close enough that their noses lightly tapped, and he nearly went cross-eyed trying to look into both of Lance’s eyes. “I’m not sure what I did to deserve this treatment, or what’s come over you, but… I love this.”

 

“I’m glad,” Lance breathed out, and smiled bashfully. “I was really worried about you hating the idea, or something stupid, I dunno.”

 

“Hmm, I guess I just have to show you just how much I love it.” Keith replied slyly, and leaned forwards to press his lips to Lance’s.

 

Keith’s lips were firm and insistent upon his own, not overpowering, but sure in their right to be there. Keith’s lips were slightly chapped from being licked so often, but Lance knew he’d be able to change that. The breath escaping from his slightly parted lips tasted of tonight’s food goo, but Lance couldn’t find he cared in the slightest. He’d spend every waking minute of every day for the rest of his life kissing Keith if he could.

 

Lance reached out with his free hand to twine into Keith’s hair, just in between the loose ponytail and the back of his skull to pull the hair tie out. Keith’s raven hair fell into loose curls, framing his face when Lance leaned back to peek.

 

“So, you really _do_ like my hair, huh?” Keith huffed, and ran a hand through his hair to adjust it. “Maybe I should grow it out, what do you think?”

 

“Definitely.” Lance immediately replied, and grabbed a bit of hair between his thumb and forefinger. "I bet you’d look ridiculously hot with long hair, I’d have to tear all the interested aliens away from my boyfriend.”

 

“Boyfriend?”

 

Lance immediately retreated, breaking off all contact with Keith. He leaned back so far that he fell flat onto his back. “B-buh, what did I say? I didn’t s-say anything, what?”

 

Keith crawled over him, trapping him with his arms on either side of Lance’s head so he couldn’t escape. “You said ‘boyfriend’.”

 

“Me, what? Psh, I said no such thing--”

 

“I like it when you say it.” Keith admitted slowly, and glanced away from Lance’s face.

 

“ **Boyfriend**!” Lance exclaimed, and wrapped his arms hastily around Keith’s neck. “Boyfriend, boy-- Uh, that is, if you want to be? My boyfriend?”

 

Keith grinned broadly down at Lance, and nodded. “Obviously, dummy. I don’t want to have to share you with anyone.” He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

 

“Mmm,” Lance hummed, and pressed a swift kiss to Keith’s cheek. “You’ll have to share me with the team, you can’t keep me all to yourself.”

 

“Well, I can try.” Keith murmured determinedly, and traced over Lance’s lips with the tips of his fingers. Suddenly, his eyes widened, “Your lips.”

 

“What about my lips?” Lance said slowly, and swatted Keith’ hands away to wipe off his mouth with the back of his hand. “If you did something, I swear to--”

 

“No, _your lips_.” Keith exclaimed, and backed up slightly to crouch overtop of Lance’s stomach to wave his hands about. “You told me to tell you what my favourite part of you was when I figured it out. It’s your lips.”

 

Lance was speechless, staring up at the man perched over top of him. How could he seem so clueless about the simplest things, like finishing a chant, yet still manage to take Lance’s breath away?

 

“Oh.” he breathed out. Because, what else could he say?

 

He figured it was too soon to tell the man he loved him.

 

* * *

 

 

The soft padding of socked feet down the hall was the only noise around Shiro as he walked through the halls of the Castle of Lions aimlessly. There was probably something he should be doing, like discussing strategy, training, or _something_ , but he couldn’t find the motivation to do that right now. And with nothing pressing at the moment, it was nice to relax and just _be_ rather than push himself into doing something productive.

 

He thought he deserved to take a break.

 

His feet took him towards the training deck without even realizing, but as soon as he realized where he was, he made the decision to walk right past it and go back to his room. A nap sounded good right about now. But, as he made his way past the doors, he heard the soft noise of someone, or two someone’s training inside.

 

He didn’t want to disturb them, so he made his way up to the observation deck to see who was training inside.

 

As soon as he walked onto the deck, he was pleasantly surprised to see Keith and Lance inside, presumably working on hand to hand combat in the centre of the floor.

 

Lance had his blue baseball shirt rolled up to his elbows, and was crouched down in a ready stance before Keith. Keith had his hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of his face, and looked cool as a cucumber standing in front of Lance. Shiro had noticed it had been getting longer lately, almost long enough to gather completely in a high ponytail. He’d never seen Keith keep it this long, usually cutting it back long before it got past his shoulders.

 

They seemed to be talking, but Shiro couldn’t hear what they were saying from up here. He was sure there was a way to make the deck echo everything they were saying, but he wasn’t sure how. So, he merely stepped closer to the window overlooking the training deck, and watched the boys converse.

 

Keith’s back was to Shiro, but he was nearly positive that Keith was wearing that confident cocky smirk he wore when sparring with someone he could easily overpower. And even though Lance had been getting better with hand to hand combat, Keith was still better at close range fighting than he was.

 

As soon as Lance made a ‘come at me’ hand motion, Keith lurched forwards, immediately dropping down to try to kick Lance’s legs out from under him. Lance was quick to jump up and avoid his attack, and took a few steps backwards to put some distance between he and Keith before he got his bearings together. Shiro watched the events unfold beneath him with his arms crossed, quietly watching how Lance moved and reacted to the things Keith threw at him. It was obvious he was steadily improving, but he also knew that Lance was better at long range combat. He’d been wondering how he’d suddenly started improving in close range combat, but if he’d been working with Keith, that made sense.

 

As Keith threw an open handed hit towards his face, Lance was able to dodge it, but left his middle wide open for another attack. As Shiro noticed it, Keith noticed it as well, and pounced on the opportunity, his free hand coming around and meeting firmly with Lance’s chest.

 

Lance jerked back, stumbling over his own feet, and Keith swooped down and kicked his feet out from under him. As soon as Lance landed on his back, probably hard enough to knock the wind out of him, Keith pounced on top of him. He pressed a knee to his chest, a hair below his collarbone in an obvious threat until Lance’s hands raised up in surrender. After a moment, when Keith was satisfied with the win, he relented and sat down right on top of Lance. He adjusted so his knees were on either side of his upper torso, just below his arms, and he was planted comfortably on his stomach. Lance was still breathing heavy, trying to catch his breath after having it knocked out of him, but he didn’t look like he was complaining about Keith sitting on him. In fact, he looked quite pleased with himself in a way Shiro was a little concerned about.

 

Pidge’s words from the other day came to mind, but he hadn’t really thought much about them the past few days. It just seemed a little too unlikely that the two of them were together. If they were, he would be nothing but happy for them, but until he learned it to be fact, from one or both of the boys below, he would continue to have his doubts of the Green Paladin’s words.

 

He leaned his hip against the console he was standing beside, simply watching Lance and Keith for a few moments. Shiro still had no idea what they were saying, but the smile Keith cast down to Lance looked so incredibly fond, a look he wasn’t used to seeing on him. He was just about to turn to leave them to whatever sort of moment they were having, when Lance reached up, grabbed a fist-full of Keith’s shirt and pulled him down into a firm kiss.

 

He was sure his jaw dropped down to floor below as Keith very obviously kissed Lance back. The way Keith’s head tilted to the side, and one of his hands came up to cup Lance’s jaw made him think it was definitely something they were experienced with, had _practiced_ , and Shiro knew he’d have to have a talk with Lance on how to treat his honourary baby brother. But, that could be at a later date.

 

For now, he knew he should leave the boys alone to do their thing. He didn’t need to spy on them any longer.

 

* * *

 

“You sure about this?” Keith asked, already eying up the weaknesses in Lance’s defense. “We can take a break for the night, go shower and get ready for bed…”

 

Lance pushed his sleeves up his arms, to just below his elbows, hoping to distract Keith with his arms. He fought a smirk when he saw how quickly Keith’s gaze drew in on the exposed skin. Keith looked properly distracted for Lance’s taste, so he said, “I was born ready, samurai.”

 

Keith’s expression was doubtful, but after a moment he shrugged. “If you say so.”

 

They stood in front of each other for a few moments, simply staring each other down until Lance gave Keith the okay to come at him.

 

Unsurprisingly, Keith’s first move was to try to kick his legs out from under him, but Lance was expecting that. His boyfriend was always saying that he needed to be more conscious of his roots, and make sure his balance wasn’t disrupted. He quickly backed up a few steps, keeping a little bit of distance between them so he could gather his bearings before Keith struck again.

 

Keith was quick to jump forwards, pushing back into Lance’s space to try to jab through any weak spots, but Lance kept up a good defense. He kept his elbows in, and tried to be flexible and move in time with Keith’s attacks, never putting in more effort than he needed to to dodge.

 

But, soon enough, Keith got the upper hand; a jab to his head made Lance pull his arms away from his body, and Keith was quick to jab into his chest with the other hand, hard enough to send him stumbling back a few steps. He tried to get his feet back under him, but not in time; Keith swiped his feet out from under him, and Lance landed flat on his back, completely knocking the wind out of him.

 

No sooner had Lance’s back hit the ground that Keith pressed his knee to his chest, effectively pinning him down. Lance let his head fall back to the mat, and heaved in a couple deep breaths. He quickly raised his hands in surrender, not up for fighting anymore. Keith laughed lightly, and planted his butt right on Lance’s stomach.

 

Lance rolled his eyes up at Keith, but accepted that he was there to stay. Once Keith settled in, there was no way to move him. Really, it was just easier to accept it.

 

“You lost.” Keith said, a fond smile playing at the corners of his lips.

 

Lance waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah yeah, I know.” he easily relented, and sat up a bit, or, as much as he could beneath his boyfriend’s weight. “You’re amazing and epic and a good fighter and all that, babe.”

 

“I know.”

 

The soft way Keith said those two simple words made Lance’s heart melt a little. It wasn’t even that he was being cocky or confident (well, he _was_ , but Lance did love that), but hearing Keith sounding so soft and fond for him is what made all the difference in the world. He still got butterflies in his stomach looking up at Keith in the bright lightning from the training deck. His hair was in a bit of a mess from fighting, starting to fall out of his high ponytail, and Lance really wanted to run his fingers through it.

 

Instead, he reached up and grabbed a fistful of the collar of Keith’s black shirt and pulled him in to kiss him soundly.

 

Keith hummed as soon as their lips met, and Lance smiled into the kiss. Kissing Keith was something Lance knew he would never get tired of. Not the way that Keith would purposefully nudge his nose against Lance’s before adjusting, or how he loved to suck Lance’s top lip into his mouth to nibble slightly on it, or the little gasp he gave when Lance pulled him in by his hips. Anything and everything Keith did while kissing him was good in Lance’s books.

 

Hands came up to cup the sides of Lance’s face almost reverently, and Lance was sure that his heart would burst from trying to contain all the love he held for him.

 

When Lance reached back behind Keith’s head with his free hand to pull the ponytail out of his long black hair, Keith breathed out a chuckle against his lips. “How did I know that would happen,” Keith whispered as his hair fell back into place around his face and back over his shoulders.

 

“Because you know how much I love your hair.” Lance replied, and put the hair tie over his own wrist for safekeeping. “It’s getting so long, you look super sexy.”

 

“Even all sweaty and gross and probably greasy?”

 

Lance let his fingers tangle in the dark locks, massaging his scalp lightly. Keith practically melted in his hands, shoulders going slack and tilting his head back into his hand. “Nope,” Lance breathed out, and leaned forwards to press a swift kiss to the corner of Keith’s mouth, “not greasy.”

 

“But we _are_ both sweaty and gross.”

 

“At least we’re sweaty and gross _together_.”

 

Keith scoffed, shaking his head slightly, but not enough to dislodge Lance’s hand from his hair. “That we are.”

 

With a bit of reluctance, Lance removed his hands from Keith’s hair and let them drop to his thighs, rubbing the black material cladding his legs lightly. “So… Shower, then bed?”

 

“Together?” Keith asked shyly.

 

Lance squawked, and whacked a hand on Keith’s thigh lightly. “Wh-- _No_ , we didn’t get anything done the last time we tried that.” He shook his head, and pushed lightly at Keith, motioning him up and off of him. “Shower separately, and then we can cuddle in bed, okay?”

 

With a dramatic roll of his eyes, Keith lifted up and off of Lance, and offered a hand down to help Lance up. “Fine,” Keith relented with a slight pout, “but there better be some exceptional cuddles.”

 

“As if I, Lance McClain, would give unsatisfactory cuddles.” He scoffed, and made sure to properly twine their hands together before starting towards the door. “That sounds fake.”

 

“You’re right,” Keith easily relented, and swung their linked hands between them lightly as they made their way off the training deck. “I love cuddling with you.”

 

Lance ducked his head to press a kiss to Keith’s cheek as they walked along. “I know you do. So do I.”

 

They walked in silence for the rest of the way to their rooms, until they reached Keith’s room. Keith wouldn’t let go of Lance’s hand to go inside and shower until he could kiss Lance goodbye, looking up at Lance with his chin up and lips puckered. Lance relented a little too easily, and walked back to his own room with a smile on his face once Keith’s door shut behind him.

 

They were quick to shower and get dressed, eager to meet up to cuddle. Lance took a little longer doing his nighttime routine, so when Keith came into his quarters a little while later, Lance was still putting moisturizer on his face. So Keith hopped up onto the counter, sitting close enough that his knee brushed against Lance’s hip every time he shifted his weight, quietly watching him do his thing.

 

When Lance finished, spitting the peach flavoured mouthwash into the sink, he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand before smirking at Keith. Before Keith could ask what he was smirking about, Lance picked him up off of the counter and carried him to bed.

 

As soon as Keith was placed in bed, he huffed and pushed his hair back from his forehead so he could glare up at his boyfriend as he climbed into bed over him. “I could have walked, y’know.”

 

“What’s the fun in that?”

 

Keith pouted, and settled in under the covers as Lance settled in beside him. He learned that since Keith often got up once in the middle of the night for a drink, that it was easier for them to sleep like this so Keith could get up more easily. It had been weird at first, switching which side of the bed he slept on, but since Keith had started sleeping with him every night, he found it easier than ever to fall asleep.

 

Lance opened his arms for Keith, and Keith immediately scootched into the space, slipping a leg in between Lance’s and tucking his head under his chin. He could hear Lance’s heart thumping rhythmically in his chest as Lance’s arms wrapped soundly around him, and he breathed out a long breath. Being wrapped up in each other was what Keith wished he could do for the rest of his life.

 

Lance’s lips pressed lightly into his hair, lingering there for a few moments before leaning back against the pillows again. “G’night, love.” he whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, even though this took me a lot longer to write than it should've, due to work and double major kicking my ass, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this beautiful piece. Thank you so much again Susan for commissioning me with this amazing idea, I still can't believe we came up with this amazing idea.
> 
> If any of you guys want to hit me up, feel free to find me on my [tumblr](http://winter-and-little-brunettes.tumblr.com/) or my [twitter](https://twitter.com/winternbrunett5)!


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